Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Lindsey Henry, Editor Marc Harrell, Business manager Dave Morantz, Managing editor Colleen Eager, Retail sales manager Kristie Blasti, Managing editor Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Tom Eblen, General manager, news advisor Justin Knapp, Technology coordinator
Thursday, April 23,1998
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Editorials
Homosexuals deserve equal rights should be able to marry in Kansas
Just because some people are homosexual does not mean they should be denied the legal rights of heterosexuals. Homosexual Kansas residents are prohibited from marrying only because of Kansas Statute 23-101.
However, homosexuals deserve the same laws as heterosexuals. The Kansas Legislature should legalize same-sex marriages.
Article one of Statute 23-101 states that the civil contract of marriage is lawful only between two parties of the opposite sex. This means that homosexual couples cannot share the same tax credit, or even the legal partnership that a heterosexual couple can. Such legislation is an atrocity in what is supposed to be the land of the free.
As adults, heterosexuals and homosexuals have the capability of deciding with whom they want to spend
Marriage is not dependent on people of the opposite sex, but on mutual love
their lives. It is not the government's place to determine whether one's sexual preference is right or wrong. The government also has no reason to not allow a marriage between people who are in love. Still, homosexual relationships in Kansas are not recognized in a legal sense and rarely recognized in a social sense.
Nevertheless, the state legislature revised the statute in 1996, which makes it impossible for a homosexual couple to marry in Kansas. Mary Feeney, attorney general, said that because the statute was implemented so recently, the
likelihood of legalizing some sex marriages in the coming years was slim.
However, Marvin Decker, Pittsburgh junior and officer for Queers & Allies, said that homosexuals are closer to winning the battle of discrimination than ever before. He also thinks that the conservative history of the United States and of Kansas was a difficult trend for homosexuals to break. He hopes that one day he will be able to live freely and have the ability to marry whomever he wants.
The government has no place to legislate morality. The Legislature should give its constituents equal rights and legalize same-sex marriages. Write the Legislature and stand up for homosexual rights. They deserve to be treated the same as heterosexuals, and they need your help.
Emily Hughey for the editorial board
University aids Asian students
Since economic difficulties arose in Asia, some Asian students at the University of Kansas have had to worry about how to pay the next tuition or housing bill. Although the problem is affecting Asian students at universities around the nation, administrative offices at the University have done a good job supporting KU students and offering solutions.
The problems the students face are unique to international students. The immigration service requires students to take at least 12 hours and work no more than 20 hours while class is in session. Students cannot cut down on their hours and work more to stay in school.
Meetings for the Asian Economic
University's efforts to help students affected by Asian economic crisis commendable
Crisis Task Force begin today. The task force includes representatives from the offices of the comptroller and registrar, student housing, International Student Services and international students. Although the situation is largely uncharted territory, the task force wants to cope with problems, mostly of an economic nature, on an individual bases. The task force will uncover financial resources helpful to students and recommend these resources to the administration.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway offered to find jobs for students who needed them. Jeff Weinberg, assistant to the Chancellor, said that no students had come to the office yet. Students also can enroll in a plan allowing tuition to be paid in four installments rather than one lump sum. International Student Services is in the process of surveying students to assess their economic and employment situations.
It would be easier for the University's agencies to look the other way and leave the burden of deciding how to fund an education at the University to the students and their families. Provided limited experience in the situation, the University has made a valiant effort on behalf of the students affected.
Kansan staff
Erinn Barcomb for the editorial board
Paul Eakins ... Editorial
Ann Premer ... News
Andrea Albright ... News
Jodie Chester ... News
Julie King ... News
Charity Jeffries ... Online
Eric Weslander ... Sports
Harley Rattliff ... Associate sports
Ryan Koerner ... Campus
Mike Perryman ... Campus
Bryan Volk ... Features
Tim Harrington ... Associate features
Steve Puppe ... Photo
Angie Kuhn ... Design, graphics
Mitch Lucas ... Illustrations
Corrie Moore ... Wire
Gwen Olson ... Special sections
Lachelie Rhoades ... News clerk
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"You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and pity; for whatever a man's actions are, such must be his spirit." — Demosthenes
Lettern: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and home-town if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
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For any questions, call Paul Eakin (eakins@kansan.com) or Ann Premer (apremer@kansan.com) at 864-4810. If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Perspective
Rape victim tells about life-changing experience
Because of the sensitive nature of this column, the guest writer asked that her name be withheld. It is her hope that this column will help others.
Most people have heard stories or seen trials, but no one can understand what rape can do to someone until it has happened to them. I know, because it happened to me. Rape changed my life.
The other day I was on Wescoe Beach waiting to go to class, and two guys sitting behind me were crudely discussing sex. Somehow they started talking about rape. Laughingly one of the said, "There's no such thing as date rape. The girl always asks for it."
My heart dropped, and I'm certain I lost all color. I used to think the same the thing. I thought that if a girl was on a date she surely would know the guy well enough to control the situation. She wouldn't be in a dark alley with some stranger, but on a date with a friend. Boys will be boys, I thought, and the girl just has to expect certain things and sa no.
But I was wrong and so were those two guvs.
I had graduated from high school less than two months earlier. I had turned in my cheerleading uniform, taken off my letter jacket, handed the high school newspaper to the new editor and given up my seat on Student Council to a new, bright face. I was ready to leave the small town of 7,000 people and head for a college where the total enrollment was four times my town's population. My high-school sweetheart and I were taking a break in our relationship after 3 1/2 years, so we could be free at our different colleges.
That summer, I met Nathan. He was a football player at a nearby college, and I was thrilled to meet him. He was great. He wanted me to meet his big, Catholic family and watch him play football. He wanted to have fun. It was even more fun for me because I was being independent. I had not told anyone, not even my family about him except for my best friend. I thought it would be just a summer thing and then I would go to college and forget about him.
I made plans with Nathan for the Fourth of July and went to a barbecue at his friend's house. I was having so much fun — I met the entire football team and hardly wait for the fireworks. At about 8 p.m. Nathan and I went back to his house so that I could grab a jacket, and the
mood changed.
Nathan said he wanted to stay home a while because he was kind of tired. I sensed something was up, and said I would meet him at the party so that he could take a quick nap. He said no and started walking toward me. I backed away until I hit the wall, and then he had me trapped. He asked me what my hurry was and why I didn't want to stay for a while.
I can remember every word he said to me. He asked me why I was still a virgin. He said we would be a cute couple. I was a cheerleader and he was a football player — it was just like TV, he said. I tried to laugh him off. I tried to squirm out of his arms. This whole time I had been edging back into the hallway, and finally there was nowhere else to go. We were at the end. There were two walls on either side of me, Nathan in front and a bathroom behind. That's when I lost any control of the situation and so did Nathan. His eyes were screaming. He knew what he wanted and was going to get it at any cost.
When those guys on Wescoe Beach said the word rape, I could feel my head crashing down on the bathtub. I could taste the blood in my mouth. I could hear the tearing of clothes, my screaming and Nathan's breathing. I remembered vividly what it felt like to have his hands on me, the cold tile and his dripping sweat. I left that house a different person — dirty and ashamed. Nathan took part of me and it hurt. I cried the whole drive home, and when I finally got there I turned around, too ashamed of what I thought I had let happen to go inside my house. How could I explain after keeping such a big secret, my relationship with Nathan, from my family? I went to my best friend's house, and told her the whole story. I thought that this was somehow my fault, and as we sat there crying, I asked her what I had done to make Nathan do this to me.
Seven months later I still was asking that question every day. But thanks to those men at Wescoe, I know the answer. I did nothing to make this happen. I said no, I screamed no, I kicked no, and I meant no with every fiber of my being. Every day of my life I think about that night. I'm engaged now, and sometimes I shudder at my fiance's touch, and he doesn't know why. I cry in my sleep, and no one knows why. I didn't ask for it, but raped changed my life.
When you go car hunting be ready to pull a big gun
But I kept my eyes peeled.
I wasn't going to let any slick salesman pull the wool over my eyes, no siree.
That was my first mistake. I was feeling independent, so I went shopping without my father. The dealers thought they had a sure deal the second they spotted a young, unassuming blond woman pull into the lot. I swear I heard a salesman say, "I can win this one with one hand tied behind my back."
Sarah Chadwick
opinionokansan.com
In the latest war of car salesmen vs. the average citizen, an average citizen won out. But not before a long, drawn-out fight. I went into battle three weeks ago without so much as a weapon.
I picked out a couple of nice cars and asked to take them for a spin. Not that I had much of a choice, but herein lies my next mistake. I gave the guy at the dealership my driver's license to photocopy before he would allow me to take the car off the lot. In doing so, I unwittingly gave him access to my full address. This allows the dealers to begin the endless bombardment of direct sales mailings, full of every slick attempt to get you back on the lot — assuming you leave the battlefield alive.
The series of battles dragged on for a few days while I staked out enemy territories. Then came the real brawl. I decided on a car. I hagled for mercy with the enemy. We came to a compromise. He put it in ink. I came back the next day to pick up my prize, this time bringing my father to show him the trophy. The dealer met me on the battlefield for the real showdown.
"We can't give you both rebates at once on this car," he drawled. "You have to pick one or the other."
This, he said, after I already had the deal in writing and the check had been written.
That's when my father and I, as well as the salesman, knew it was time for the shoot-out. The words flew like bullets but to no avail. We couldn't take out the enemy. He wouldn't back down. Steam escaped my ears and a few words shot out of my mouth that I'm not sure I've used before.
Near sundown, after hours of verbal assault, persuasion and coaxing, our enemy conceded. The war was over. I swaggered off the lot. After all, I had won the west.
Chadwick is an Olathe senior in journalism.
Feedback
Death Penalty story forgets about victim
Disgust and outrage are the two feelings that came to mind as I read last Thursday's article about the death penalty. The latest instance of a Kansan reporter omitting important facts. Carrie Williams, Parsons High School 1993 co-homecoming queen, was a good friend to me and many others including Parsons' students at the University of Kansas and had one of the prettiest smiles ever seen. She was the victim, and she has a name, although it seems that such things aren't important enough for the Kansan to mention. Instead, two pages are dedicated to glorify her killer, a repeat assault and sex offender, with an ominous fictional account of the last 20 minutes of his life. How about a real account of Carrie's last 20 minutes? A man she barely recognizes as someone who lives in a nearby apartment breaks into
Jared Grillot Parsons senior
KU students don't represent all people
her apartment. He beats her bloody, ties her up, rapes her, then stabs her to death and leaves. Kind of makes the dark, forebinding account of Kleypa's last walk a little less effective, doesn't it? I am not here to promote or condemn the death penalty, but by not even bothering to mention Carrie's name, referring to her as a Pittsburgh State University student, you disrespect Carrie and insult her family and friends.
In a column on Tuesday, April 21, Jenny Oakson said: "Our generation has no reason to hold a protest, but it has all the right outfits for one." First of all, those of us at KU are not the whole of our generation, and many of those in America that are 18-23 only have one outfit, and no home. Others are serving 30 year jail sentences for selling LSD while cops get off for beating Rodney King. Many members of our generation live in the Third World: Compton, Detroit, Norfolk, Va., and Baltimore come to mind.
To speak of a bunch of mostly middle class white kids as our generation is a horrible misrepresentation of our society. More 19-22 year old African-American men are in prison than in college: these, too, are members of our generation that likely would have been in college if our parents hadn't abandoned them in the white suburban flight. This is to say nothing of those kids in Garden City who may never know the world as "our generation" knows it.
To speak of your graduating class as representative of your generation speaks volumes to me of our degeneration as a society, and I and those like me will continue to protest that.
Matt Bachand Yorktown, Va., senior